Continuing the Zone's profiles of Hall of Fame candidates, today's profilee was a two time NBA champion, a former league MVP, Rookie of the Year and Defensive POY. He helped resurrect the San Antonio Spurs in the early 90s. He is the Admiral, David Robinson.

David Robinson was born August 6, 1965 in Key West, Florida. His father was in the United State Navy, so Robinson moved frequently until his dad retired and settled in Woodbridge, Virginia. Robinson attended Osborn Park High School in nearby Manassas, Virginia, but didn't play basketball until his senior year, where the 6'7 Robinson won all-area and all-district honors. Still, he generated little interest from other colleges, so he decided to follow in his father's footsteps and attend the U.S. Naval Academy.

At Navy, Robinson became the school's most dominant player ever, averaging 21 PPG and 10.3 RPG (his best season was his senior year, when he average 28.2 PPG and 11.8 RPG). Robinson won the Naismith and Wooden awards as college player of the year in 1986-87, and was promptly selected by the San Antonio Spurs as the top pick in the 1987 NBA Draft. However, Robinson had to fulfill two years in the Navy before he could join the Spurs. Thus, he didn't join the team until the 1989-90 season.

When Robinson joined the Spurs, they had fallen on hard times; they had not had a winning season since 1982-83, and their 1988-89 record was 21-61. Robinson immediately changed their fortunes; he averaged 24.3 PPG and 12 RPG, leading the Spurs to a 56-26 record and the Midwest Division title; the 35 win improvement was a record at the time in the NBA (since surpassed by the 2007-08 Boston Celtics). Robinson won Rookie of the Year honors and led the Spurs to their first playoff series win since 1983 by beating the Nuggets before losing a classic series to Portland in seven games. The "Admiral" had rejuvenated the franchise and made it a legit contender.

Over the next six seasons, Robinson was the beacon of the Spurs; he led the team to four more division titles during that span, and Robinson racked up the awards during that time; he won Defensive Player of the Year in 1991-92, and won the scoring title in 1993-94 with a spectacular finish; in the Spurs' last game of the season against the Clippers, he broke George Gervin's single-game Spurs scoring record of 63 points by scoring 71 points, claiming the title by a slim margin over Shaquille O'Neal. Robinson's zenith came in 1994-95, when he averaged 27.6 PPG, 10.8 RPG and helped the Spurs to a league-best 62-20 record. For that, Robinson won league MVP, the first Spur to do so. Despite this, the Spurs never advanced beyond the conference finals during that span. Then, during the 1996-97 season, Robinsom hurt his back, and then broke his foot, missing 76 games and watching helplessly as the Spurs collapsed to 20-62.

While many wondered how Robinson would bounce back, the silver lining from the 1996-97 season was that the Spurs won the right to draft first overall, and they selected Tim Duncan with that pick. Duncan and Robinson became the newest "Twin Towers", and this time, the centers could co-exist; the Spurs won 56 games in their first season together, and during the lockout shortened 1998-99 season, Robinson finally won his first NBA title as the Spurs beat the New York Knicks 4-1, becoming the first former ABA team ever to win an NBA title. The Spurs maintained their dominant position through the early 2000s, but they couldn't overcome the Lakers in either 2001 or 2002. By the 2002-03 season, Robinson announced he was playing his final season, and the Spurs sent him out on top, as they defeated the New Jersey Nets 4-2 for his second title. By the time of his retirement, he had scored 20,790 points (21.1 PPG career) and grabbed 10,497 rebounds (10.6 RPG career), had made ten All-Star teams (1990-96, 1998, 2000-01), was named to four All-NBA 1st teams and four All-NBA Defensive 1st teams (1991-92, 1995-96), and was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA history in 1995. He is eligible for the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.

Season-by-Season Statistical Review:
1989-90: 82 GP, 81 GS, 24.3 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 2.0 APG, 53.1 FG%, 73.2 FT%
1990-91: 82 GP, 81 GS, 25.6 PPG, 13.0 RPG, 2.5 APG, 55.2 FG%, 76.2 FT%
1991-92: 68 GP, 68 GS, 23.2 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 2.7 APG, 55.1 FG%, 70.1 FT%
1992-93: 82 GP, 82 GS, 23.4 PPG, 11.7 RPG, 3.7 APG, 50.1 FG%, 73.2 FT%
1993-94: 80 GP, 80 GS, 29.8 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 4.8 APG, 50.7 FG%, 74.9 FT%
1994-95: 81 GP, 81 GS, 27.6 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 2.9 APG, 53.0 FG%, 77.4 FT%
1995-96: 82 GP, 82 GS, 25.0 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 3.0 APG, 51.6 FG%, 76.1 FT%
1996-97: 6 GP, 6 GS, 17.7 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 1.3 APG, 50.0 FG%, 65.4 FT%
1997-98: 73 GP, 73 GS, 21.6 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 2.7 APG, 51.1 FG%, 73.5 FT%
1998-99: 49 GP, 49 GS, 15.8 PPG, 10.0 RPG, 2.1 APG, 50.9 FG%, 65.8 FT%
1999-2000: 80 GP, 80 GS, 17.8 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 1.8 APG, 51.2 FG%, 72.6 FT%
2000-01: 80 GP, 80 GS, 14.4 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 1.5 APG, 48.6 FG%, 74.7 FT%
2001-02: 78 GP, 78 GS, 12.2 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.2 APG, 50.7 FG%, 68.1 FT%
2002-03: 64 GP, 64 GS, 8.5 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.0 APG, 46.9 FG%, 71.0 FT%